Nutmeg, an Ancient Spice

Nutmeg was used in the Banda Islands (Indonesia) as long ago as 3500 years. Pottery from that date have  traces of nutmeg in them. It's not known if it was used for its fruit, as a spice or for medicinal purposes, but Neolithic Indonesian communities were clearly using it for something.

The Banda Islands consist of eleven small volcanic islands, and are part of the larger Maluku Islands group. These islands were the only source of nutmeg and mace production until the mid-19th century.

Nutmeg is the ground up seed of several tree species of the genus Myristica. Mace is another spice produced by grinding up the seed covering. These trees are also a commercial source of nutmeg essential oil and nutmeg butter. Indonesia is the main producer of nutmeg and mace, as the true nutmeg tree is native there.

If nutmeg is consumed in amounts exceeding the typical use as a spice, it may produce allergic reactions, dermatitis or have psychoactive effects. Although sometimes used in traditional medicine for various disorders, nutmeg is not used in medicines today.

Nutmeg has a distinctive pungent fragrance and a slightly sweet taste. It can be used to flavor baked goods, confections, puddings, potatoes, meats, sausages, sauces, vegetables and beverages such as eggnog.

Nutmeg trees are dioecious plants, which means individual plants are either male or female. The first harvest of nutmeg trees takes place 7-9 years after planting and the trees reach full production after 20 years.

Nutmeg is used as a spice in many cuisines. In Indonesia, it is used in spicy soups, in gravy for meat dishes, and in certain European derived dishes. In India, it is used in many sweet, as well as savoury, dishes. Ground nutmeg is also smoked in India for a different flavor. In Europe, nutmeg and mace are used in potato and spinach dishes, in processed meat products, in soups, sauces, baked goods and rice pudding. The Dutch add nutmeg to such vegetables as Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and string beans, as well as to mulled cider, mulled wine, junket (also known as curds and whey) and eggnog. Nutmeg is a common spice for pumpkin pie. In the Caribbean, nutmeg is sprinkled on top of drinks such as the Bushwacker, Painkiller, and Barbados rum punch.

The nutmeg fruit can also be eaten. It is used to make jam, or is finely sliced, cooked with sugar and crystallised to make a fragrant candy. Sliced nutmeg fruit is made with a sugary syrup liquid or dry coated with sugar to make a dessert. Nutmeg rind can be blended or boiled to make iced nutmeg juice. In India, this is used for juice, pickles and chutney.

Nutmeg essential oil is obtained by steam distillation of ground nutmeg. It is used in perfumes and pharmaceuticals. The oil is colorless or light yellow, and smells and tastes of nutmeg. It is used as flavoring in baked goods, syrups, beverages and sweets. When used to replace ground nutmeg, it doesn't leave particles in the food. The oil is also used in manufacturing toothpaste and cough syrups.

Nutmeg butter is obtained from the nut. It is a reddish-brown semisolid substance with the taste and smell of nutmeg. About 75% of nutmeg butter can be turned into a fatty acid. This can be used as a replacement for cocoa butter, can be mixed with cottonseed or palm oil, and has applications as an industrial lubricant.

In the sixth century AD, nutmeg spread to India, then to Constantinople. By the 13th century, Arab traders knew the origin of nutmeg was the Indonesian islands, but kept the location a secret from European traders.

In August 1511, Afonso de Albuquerque conquered Malacca on behalf of the king of Portugal. At the time, Malacca was the hub of Asian trade. In November of that year, Albuquerque sent an expedition of 3 ships to find the Banda Islands. Those ships arrived in early 1512 and remained for about a month, buying and filling their ships with nutmeg, mace and cloves. Although control of this trade by the Portuguese was not possible, they participated without a foothold in the islands.

In 1621, the Dutch East India Company waged battle with the Bandanese to obtain a monopoly on nutmeg. It is estimated the Bandanese went from a population of approximately 15,000 people to 1,000 people.

The British invaded and temporarily took control of the Banda Islands during the Napoleonic Wars. They busily transplanted nutmeg trees, complete with soil, to Sri Lanka and Singapore and other places. From those, they also transplanted trees, most notably to Zanzibar and Grenada. The Dutch eventually regained control of the Banda Islands, and kept it until World War II.

In 2019, 142,000 tonnes of nutmeg were produced. Indonesia, Guatemala and India produced approximately equal amounts, producing 85% of the global total.

Nutmeg intoxication may occur with side effects such as delirium, anxiety, confusion, headaches, nausea, dizziness, dry mouth, eye irritation, and amnesia. It takes several hours to reach maximum effect and may last for several days. Nutmeg overdose rarely causes death, but can if combined with other drugs.

The scent of nutmeg may attract pets, but it can be poisonous to them.

I'm not a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but I love a sprinkling of nutmeg in my eggnog. What about you? Do you have a favorite dish that uses nutmeg?

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nutmeg

Archeology, January/February 2019, page 25

OrganPipe Cactus fruit

I have often wondered what kind of food chain there would be in a desert that would allow people to live there. Oh, yes, I’ve heard about certain rats, rabbits, coyotes, snakes, lizards... But the fact is that as you go down the food chain to smaller and smaller creatures, eventually you have to get to plant-life. On Earth, it seems a pretty likely bet, anyway.

I am often disappointed by authors and filmmakers who forget there needs to be some kind of food chain. In my latest viewing of “Dune” - I can’t remember which version of it I was watching - it occurred to me that the people on the planet were apparently colonists, or descendents of colonists. There was much talk about the great worms, with no talk of what they ate. One assumes that there was a mouse species on the planet, but they might have come with the colonists. One assumes there are mice, because the nickname the common people adopt for Paul was the name of a species of mice who fight back. And in one scene, I saw at least 1 beautiful butterfly. Nowhere did I ever see any kind of plantlife out in the wild. So... what did the butterflies, the fierce mice, the worms and the people eat? I don’t know. I don’t remember anything like that being mentioned in the book, either. Sigh.

By comparison, Earth deserts are veritable hotbeds of life. So let’s take a look at another desert food source that I’ve heard about.

The organ-pipe cactus grows in the Sonoran Desert and Baja California. It has a very short trunk, from which dozens of stems grow, producing what one might think of as a bush. Its root system only reaches about 10 cm (4 inches) into the ground, but are sufficient for sucking up monsoon water when it occurs. Otherwise, the plant is pretty water-tight, with a water-proof skin and plenty of thorns to keep from getting eaten. An individual cactus can live 150 years, but doesn’t produce fruit until age 35. Probably because a good growing year will see it add a whopping 2.5 inches a year to its height.

In May and June, the organ-pipe cactus develops white/creamy flowers that only open at night and usually close back up by mid-morning. That doesn’t leave much time for day-time pollinators to get to it, but bats do the job just fine during the night.

Just before the rains come in July and August, the fruit ripens and splits open to reveal bright red flesh surrounding lots of seeds. Or maybe the fruit was red and the inner flesh was purple; I’ve seen it described both ways.

I didn’t find a lot of recipes for preparing organ-pipe cactus fruit. Apparently, you simply mash the fruit flesh and seeds into a sweet paste, which could be eaten as it was. Or you could dry it out to make a spreadable jelly. Another way would be to separate the seeds and place them in storage. Later, you could grind the seeds into a flour to make seed cakes. So, you could have your seed cakes and fruit jelly both!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stenocereus_thurberi

www.nps.gov/orpi/learn/nature/organ-pipe-cactus.htm

http://www.ethnoherbalist.com/southern-california-native-plants-medicinal/pitaya-fruit/

Ironwood Seeds - Sonoran Desert Delicacy

When I researched the Tohono Oodham Nation, one of the foods they foraged in the Sonoran Desert was ironwood seeds, so I decided to find out what I could about this food source.

First, about the trees. There are many trees known as ‘ironwood’, so the version found in the Sonoran Desert is often called desert ironwood. The tree itself grows extremely slowly, and can possibly live for centuries. But even after one of them dies, it might remain a landmark for millenia. This is because the heartwood is so full of toxic chemicals that decay is practically eliminated.

The seedpods grow from the middle of a stem, not the end, and each pod can hold up to a dozen or so seeds. The pictures I saw depicted a brown pod that reminded me of a cross between a green bean and a smooth-skinned peanut pod. Or possibly a vanilla bean pod. The seeds inside seemed to have a passing resemblance to peanuts, which seems fitting, since both the peanut plant and the desert ironwood are legumes.

As with other legumes, the desert ironwood enriches the surrounding soil with nitrogen, so the area immediately surrounding this tree is richer for growing plants than the soil another couple of feet away from the tree. Did the Oodham tend to cultivate their crops by planting them in close proximity to an ironwood? I don’t know, I haven’t found any information on that. But in my mind, it would make sense for them to have done so.

Now, about those seeds.

Ironwoods generally flower from late April through May and set seed pods a few weeks later, which will dry in June-July. The flowers, fresh seedpods and dried seedpods are edible.

The pink flowers can be used in or as a salad. They can also be candied for use as a dessert, but I don’t know if the Oodham did that. Good to add to my basket of knowledge as I look for means to feed an alien culture.

The seedpods are apparently beige from the start, so how do you know when to harvest them if you want them fresh? You open up one pod and look for the seeds inside to be green. If the seeds are sweet and taste slightly like a peanut, you are good to harvest. Gently pull whole pods off the tree.

However, if that seed tastes chalky, you’ve waited too long to harvest them as fresh. Go away and come back when the pods are fuzzy, dry and dark brown. The seeds inside will now be hard and brown. Don’t bother picking the pods by hand at this point; just put a tarp or blanket on the ground and gently shake free the dry pods. But don’t harvest any dry pods that land on the bare ground.

Whether you have harvested your ironwood seeds fresh or dry, they should be cleaned and processed for storage as soon as possible after picking to reduce the chances of spoilage. Now, I got some information from a website (see below) on how to do this, but the instructions as given require things I’m pretty sure the Oodham did not have in yesteryear. Things like ice water, plastic bags and a freezer. Suffice it to say that they suggest you blanche the fresh seeds, package them in bags with as little air enclosed as possible, and throw the bags in the freezer. Even the dry seeds need to be frozen for at least 2 days to avoid bug infestation.

So I’m guessing the Oodham didn’t process them that way. I’m guessing they merely cooked them using their favorite method and ate. And the next day, somebody would go and forage again. Maybe they came back with more ironwood seeds, maybe they found something else.

All good to know when I’m trying to keep somebody alive on what seems an inhospitable planet.

https://www.desertharvesters.org/native-plant-food-guides-the-desert-can-feed-you/desert-ironwood/#desert-ironwood-harvesting-basics

Pick a Flavor

Several years ago, I heard about this very strange tree that produced 40 different kinds of fruit. On one tree! That sounded pretty weird, but it turned out the tree was produced - over a number of years - by grafting, which has been done for... centuries? Millennia? A very long time.

Sam Van Aken is a sculpture artist who grew up on a farm. In 2008, he began grafting ‘donor’ branches onto a ‘stock tree’. He was looking to create a tree that would bloom in various colors. It was an art project, for him. After about 5 years, he had a tree that bloomed in shades of red, pink and white flowers. The picture I saw was gorgeous.

But the real fun, I think, would be in harvesting the bounty. The types of fruit include almond, apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach and plum varieties. Each ripens at a specific time, starting in July and ending in October (in the US). I’m guessing that you could be picking several different varieties at the same time. A true cornucopia of plenty!

Sam didn’t make just one tree. As of 2014, he had installed 16 trees of 40 fruits around the country. But he wasn’t done. That article showed his plan for producing ‘tree 71’ and a picture of ‘tree 75’. He’d like to make an entire city orchard with these trees.

No 2 trees are alike. First, he starts with a stock tree that thrives in the area where the tree will live. You can’t put an aspen in a place where there are no other aspen trees, and expect it to thrive. Then, over several years, he grafts on branches from various fruit trees.

Sam has 250 varieties to choose from in his nursery, some of them of heirloom, antique, and native varieties of fruit that are no longer produced in any quantity. He also goes to local farmers in the tree’s home area to get local branches to add to the tree. In this way, he introduces diversity to the area, and conserves old varieties that might otherwise be lost.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tree_of_40_Fruit

http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/03/living/tree-40-fruit-sam-van-aken-feat/index.html

http://www.epicurious.com/archive/chefsexperts/interviews/sam-van-aken-interview